Chickie Update

My son is visiting from New York. He was kind enough to help pose chickens when asked. We're all about providing non-Manhattan-style experiences here.

These were the girls at the beginning of June. They were young teens at the time, and eager to do some scary things to the guest room carpet on the day they escaped from their dog crate/baby chick pen.

Front, left to right: Albertina, Lizzie, and Meg.
Hocky is at the rear in this photo. She didn't like having pictures taken of her beak.

Now they all live outside in a chicken coop, where sensible hens like to live. This is Albertina the Pecker, a Barred Rock. 

This is Lizzie, the Rhode Island Red.

 And this is the lovely and shy Meg, an Americauna. Meg has green legs that will probably match the green eggs she will eventually lay.

Some sad news: Meg's sister, Hocky, died a couple of weeks ago and was buried with full honors. She was a brave girl and lived her life to the best of her abilities. When she was around a month old, her beak began to show a deformity. It only got more severe as she got older--the beak was crossed and eating was a trial to her. She would peck with the top part of the beak and only occasionally would food get into the bottom part of her beak and down her throat. Hocky grew very tame, as we held her and tried to help get food into her eager mouth. As the others grew, Hocky stayed pretty small, although she never gave up trying to eat. She was lively and cheerful and friendly right to the end. One morning she simply didn't get up to greet us, because she had passed away during the night.